I have been mulling over a long time concern that I believe I received from the Lord a number of years ago, and this morning while I was reading A. W. Tozer’s book, The Root of the Righteous, I came upon his chapter of the god Entertainment.  You have to understand that Tozer wrote this book in 1955 to be able to identify with not only his concerns in his generation, but what I have been trying to understand over the years as to why Renee and I have had such a difficult time going to churches that have as a form of worship, the god ENTERTAINMENT.

                We have been in churches where the incremental creep of the entertainment grew each month into more entertainment than speaking the WORD of GOD.  By that I mean; the congregation is subjected to more contemporary issues than to the real Word of God.  Jeremiah says what I am trying to relate best in 5:30-31 where it reads very clearly; “A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will you do in the end thereof?” KJV

                I have for a number of years realized that the Body of Christ has become more and more shallow, and more and more dependent on external things of the eye, the ear, and the feel of what is being presented as Worship of Yahweh when in reality it is a bankruptcy of the inner man because they do not have the Word of God in their being.  They have someone else’s interpretation of the Word which they readily accept as the hearing of the Word but the reality is; they cannot tell the difference as for years we have been bombarded with more and more theatrical production in our church services, resulting not in more having an unshakable faith, but many have been lulled into a sleep of the true seeking of the Lord.

                I already know that this will not be accepted among many who I will send it to, and some will even be offended, but this did not come to me because I was seeking a contemporary comfort message to the Body of Christ.  I am seeking the Christ of the Scriptures, not the Christ of the modern comfort seeking prophets who tell us over and over that God does not want us to suffer, but for us to have all there is.  What do we do with it?  We consume it on ourselves.  I know this is true; I have been guilty of consuming in that I sought some of this comfort.  I have repented, and I continue to repent, that I am found in Christ, that He is revealed in me, rather than in my actions of false worship.

Tozer writes, “A German philosopher many years ago said something to the effect that the more a man has in his own heart the less he will require from the outside; excessive need for support from without is proof of the bankruptcy of the inner man.”  I think this to be true, much more than this land acknowledged in the 1950s, because it is more evident in churches today than it was then.  Tozer goes on to say, that we have an inordinate attachment to every form of entertainment and it is evidence that man is no longer seeking the living God, but worshipping a god that they can assimilate to in the flesh.

Schleiermacher held that the feeling of dependence lies at the root of all religious worship, but it must begin with a deep sense of the great need which only Yahweh can satisfy.  If the feelings of dependence are at the root of natural religion it is not hard for those seeking the true and Living God to see, why the great god ENTERTAINMENT is so ardently worshipped by so many in the church today.  Those who claim to be in the Body of Christ who do not see this as a profound and astonishing concern of the modern day church business; may already be asleep.

Tozer writes further; “For centuries the Church stood solidly against every form of worldly entertainment, recognizing it for what it was—a device for wasting time, a refuge from the disturbing voice of the conscience, a scheme to divert attention from more accountability.”  I have spoken to more than a few ministers of the church; that if my faith is not increased when I listen to their message, it is possible that I might have wasted time, because they were entertaining rather that speaking from the heart that which God has revealed to them.  That is not to say that every message that is spoken in churches throughout the land are a waste of time, for not all in a congregation will be struck with the same conviction as someone else, for it is by the Spirit of the Living God that we are able to hear at all.  It is more a concern of more and more time being spent in entertainment each week that is the concern, because eventually it will lead to a hardening of the heart, so much so that if the weeks that follow are not more entertaining than the weeks preceding, they come to believe that their god is not speaking, when the truth is Yahweh God was not speaking to begin with.  They have done what is common to man, they have forgotten the God of the Scripture and they have been swallowed up by the gods of the flesh desires.

                 Tozer gets more specific; “Today we have the astonishing spectacle of millions of dollars being poured into the unholy job of providing earthly entertainment for the so-called sons of heaven.  Religious entertainment is in many places rapidly crowding out the serious things of God.  Many churches have become little more than poor theaters where fifth-rate “producers” peddle their shoddy wares with the full approval of evangelical leaders who can even quote a holy text in defense of their delinquency.  AND HARDLY A MAN DARES TO RAISE HIS VOICE AGAINST IT.”  

                Some time back, a friend said something to me that I shall have with me until the day Jesus comes, or I go by way of the grave.  He said to me, “Do you know the meaning of the word AMUSMENT?”  I thought I did, but he explained something to me that forever changed my view of not only the meaning of the word, but the spiritual implications associated with it.  To be amused is to be in a place to NOT THINK.  I was struck by this, because I had been struggling over why so many who claim to be in the Body of Christ who actually go to church to amuse themselves or their conscience when they do not spend time in the Word of God nor do they seek the living God, but they think they will get all they need by what they hear some preacher expound on what his years of study gives them.  They would not know if their preacher was speaking the Word of God or not, for they do not know it for themselves.  They think they are doers of the Word because they attain this by being in line with this denominational doctrine or that or if they are able to claim that they obey the Word of God by being compliant with this liturgy or that.  Oh God of the Universe, have mercy on us, for we have forgotten the God of the Universe, we worship the creation rather than the Creator; we worship the word, rather than abide IN THE WORD.

                Tozer continues, “The great god Entertainment amuses his devotees mainly by telling them stories.  The love of stories is a characteristic of childhood, but it has taken fast hold of the minds of the retarded saints, so much so that not a few persons manage a comfortable living in the spinning of yarns and serving them up in various disguises to church people.  What is natural and beautiful for a child is shocking and ungodly when it persists into adulthood, and more so when it appears in the sanctuary and seeks to pass for a faith in the Holy One of the Scriptures.”

                As I stated earlier, I do not think many who are in the modern entertainment oriented business of running a church are going to recognize this god, or if they do they will diligently persist to expunge this thought from their minds, not because of who said it.  It is because they are willingly ignorant of the true seeking of the Lord Yahweh and they wish to remain comfortable in their thoughts and not have to repent of the evil they are participating in and stand in the gap of ignorance, or run on the wall of the sanctuary to warn the people to not be asleep, but to hear the sound of the trumpet when it sounds. 

                The day will come, when Christ will come back to those who are diligently seeking HIM, and to those who have been blinded by the Hand of God himself, for they will look upon Him whom they have pierced.  He will not be coming for those asleep.  He will be bringing His judgment with him, and there will be no place of comfort or solace from the wonderful and horrible things that will come to the children of disobedience.

                Be you watching, be not asleep but be awake; arise out of your slothfulness and forgetfulness and liturgy and repent.  Do not seek solace from the god of entertainment, but from Him who gives the true peace in the midst of adversity.  Him who gives a peace that passes all understanding, the God of the Scriptures is calling to His people.

In Jesus, the Christ of Yahweh, In Him only will I trust;            What are your thoughts on this article?
Ray Grosser